Speer's 1-hitter leads Staples over Brien McMahon

Published 9:28 pm, Wednesday, April 14, 2010

NORWALK -- A weak dribbler slowed down by the infield grass is all that kept Staples' David Speer from a no-hitter on Wednesday afternoon.

In his first league start, Speer found consolation by finishing with a one-hit, 15-strikeout gem en route to a 10-1 win over Brien McMahon.

When asked if this was the best start of his career, Speer grinned.

"Definitely," the senior tri-captain said. "I'd say that was No. 1."

Speer, who will be pitching for Columbia next year, added to his illustrious 17-3 career record with the complete-game win.

"I just felt like I could throw any pitch on command," Speer said. "I just wasn't afraid to go right at the hitters. When my confidence is at that level, it's great. It was a lot of fun throwing today."

It wasn't much fun for the Senators. At one point Speer fanned seven batters in a row, and recorded a strikeout in every inning.

"He is every team's dream," Staples coach Jack McFarland said. "I've seen him win so many big games. When we put the ball in his hands, everybody expects us to win that game. He puts out a

quality product. That's what a Division I pitcher looks like."

Two days after facing Ryan Walsh of Trinity Catholic and losing on a walk-off grand slam, McMahon dreaded going up against another of the FCIAC's premier pitchers.

"The positive side is we don't have to face those two guys anymore," McMahon coach John Cross said. "I still like my team, but sometimes when you run into dominant pitchers you're going to get beat. You have to be real good to beat these guys."

Supporting Speer, the two-time defending league champions had another big offensive showing to improve to 4-0, led by designated hitter Danny Carbone.

Down 0-2 in the count in the top of the first inning with Grant Moss on base, Carbone drove a pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run homer.

"I just had a steady swing, Carbone said. "We keep on playing like this, everyone does their job and we play as a team, it's going to be tough to stop us."

Carbone went 3-for-4 and added an RBI triple in a four-run sixth inning that broke open the game.

Before that inning, McMahon was still in the ball game thanks to pitcher Eric Stenger. Despite a few costly errors, Stenger kept his team in the game as long as he could.

"He battled," Cross said. "That's senior leadership. He's doing the best he possibly can to keep us going."

Stenger was replaced in the sixth by Brian Daniello, who finished the game for the Senators (2-3, 0-3).

"We have to have some short memories here," Cross said of his team, the CIAC Class LL runners-up. "We have a long season ahead of us. An 0-3 could turn into 3-3 real quick."

McFarland echoed those sentiments.

"That McMahon team, I don't care what their record is, I would be shocked if they were not in the FCIAC playoffs," McFarland said.

McFarland went on to talk about how the Wreckers have continued to build off their championship season.

"We were really swinging the bats well," McFarland said. "We really stepped it up on the offensive side. We preached in the preseason that if we ever get our offense to the level of our pitching and defense, we could really do some damage."

If the offense can catch up with Speer, Staples looks primed to make a run at a three-peat.

"Everyone hits the ball," Speer said. "Everyone just hustles out every play. It's just great to watch our (team) run. This is by far the best team we've had."